LG India, which had soft-launched its premium water purifier last year, plans to aggressively expand its presence in the segment with mid-level purifiers.
Rajeev Jain, Business Head - Home Appliances, LG Electronics, said, “After launching our premium water purifiers last year, we now plan to strengthen our presence by launching the mid-end segment, starting from Rs 28,000.”
The Korean consumer durable major is test marketing these purifiers in the Delhi-NCR region and will take them to other parts of the country early next year.
The organised water purifier market is estimated at Rs 2,500 crore and the penetration is low, which LG Indiasees as a huge potential. “The products are customised for Indians. Rather than offering plastic water tanks, our products have stainless steel tanks, which help keep the water pure for longer and also makes them more durable,” he added.
In the first phase, LG India will take its water purifiers to 60 cities where it has a direct service network.
On home appliance sales this festival season, Jain said despite the macro-economic headwinds, the company managed to register a growth of 14-15 per cent in the segment. “The entry level segment is the most impacted, but our products are positioned in the mid to premium segments,” Jain said on sidelines of the finale of the 5th India’s Mallika-e-kitchen contest, which it organises every year to promote microwave cooking. The company said its share in microwaves had grown from 32 per cent in 2008 to 39 per cent in September 2013.
Even though microwaves have only 1.2 per cent penetration in the country, the category is expected to witness a fall by 18-20 per cent. “In the past few years, microwaves were increasingly used as a gifting product during festival seasons, but according to industry feedback, in recent times low-cost tablets have taken over,” said Jain.